Creating Diamonds from Tequila | Popular Science

Creating Diamonds from Tequila
From the "too good to be true" files: A team of Mexican scientists have
found a way to turn everyone's favorite liquor into everyone's favorite precious stone.
By Jaya Jiwatram Posted 11.10.2008 at 4:49 pm

Tequila may be just another drink to those out in the town, but to a team of scientists in Mexico their country's native alcohol turned out to be a gem; a diamond, to be precise. Javier Morales, Luis Apátiga and Victor Castaño at the National Autonomous University of Mexico made the alchemist-worthy discovery while experimenting turning various organic solutions, such as acetone and ethanol, into diamonds. The scientists noted that 80-proof tequila (40 percent alcohol) had the ideal proportion of ethanol to water to create diamond films. In order to make the diamonds, they evaporated the tequila into a vapor, and then heated the vapor above 1400 degrees Fahrenheit before depositing it on silicon or stainless steel trays. The resulting diamond films were between 100 to 400 nm in diameter and free of impurities. Hard and heat resistant, the diamond films could have several commercial applications, such as for cutting tools and optical electronic devices. At the moment, the team is looking into creating diamonds with impurities for potential use as a new kind of semiconductor. The scientists have bigger plans in sight, too: They intend to turn their work into an industrial-scale venture by 2011 and hope to find a tequila distiller to provide them with the supplies.

www.popsci.com...

Now this was just too good not to post!
If only i could turn Tequila into Diamonds.. If these guys
are good hearted they'll help their Country back on it's feet
with this brilliant technology, of course unless the black
market takes over. Still, it's a cool article.

Now if only I could figure out what to do with the half empty bottle of Jose cuervo sitting on my shelf, if only I could turn it in to silver patron.. Oh well it will have to do.

creating diamonds is nothing new...question is if the diamonds are completly the same like natural diamonds...

we are already able to produce gold =)

we've had man made Diamonds for years..I use them every week in stone cutting and random other stuff...They aren't free of impurities but that's because it costs more than it's worth to refine..We can turn lead into gold in a nuclear reactor also but once again the cost outweighs the gain so it's not worth it...

Originally posted by NewsWorthy
We can turn lead into gold in a nuclear reactor also but once again the cost outweighs the gain so it's not worth it...

I would like to now where you get this information, would be an interesting thread as well.

reply to post by Hessdalen


its nothing new but this process is...

Originally posted by mileysubet

Originally posted by NewsWorthy
We can turn lead into gold in a nuclear reactor also but once again the cost outweighs the gain so it's not worth it...

I would like to now where you get this information, would be an interesting thread as well.

well as far as Diamond blades... I've seen it on How it's made I believe, but it's also common Knowledge in the trades..and as for lead to gold I have been told this by 2 of the smartest people I've met who have never let me down with their information..I'm not positive it was lead that was needed because it has been a while since the subject came up but I remember it being called Nuclear Transmutation.

oh here you go here is a article on it chemistry.about.com...
actually here is a good 1 too i came across while looking for that link
www.chemistryexplained.com...

Thus, in principle, it is possible to achieve the alchemist's dream of transmuting lead into gold, but the cost of production via nuclear transmutation reactions would far exceed the value of the gold. Read more: Transmutation - Chemistry Encyclopedia - reaction, elements, number, mass, atom www.chemistryexplained.com...

Good luck trying to produce enough pressure to make the diamonds. Even if they can be made they wont be worth much anymore the rarity value will drop.

sort of gives a 'twist' to the song 'Lucy in the sky with Diamonds' doesn't it..

Diamonds and tequila... forgot about this one!